Lost Chance
by lil genius
Summary: After the defeat of Garland's ambition, a banished eidolon returns to Gaia and torments Kuja and the others about their futures. Chapter 10 is finally up!
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
Hello?  
  
He had thought he heard a voice. He couldn't have, but he thought he did. It was too late for him now. He was dead, and all alone. Had he had a choice to where his life was going? Had he done this to himself? No, he thought, This was all Garland's fault! And he slipped back into darkness.  
  
"I-is he dead?"  
  
"No, he's still breathing. Come on, help me get him into some warm clothes before he catches the Virus!"  
  
"Hello? Hello! Sir, wake up!"  
  
Who's there? Who's disturbing my sleep? The young man's mind was broken, the shards lay around him as mirrors to look through and see his former self. One of them seemed to glow to his senses, though he could see nothing. He picked it up and saw his blood and dirt covered body, cradled in unfamiliar hands.If his body was still alive, he could swim back for it!  
  
The current of the lifestream was strong, but his determination was stronger. For each "step" the river drew him back, he had two more..... It hurt, to be wading through angry souls. They tore at him, and at what little sanity he had left. But he made it, and the light welcomed him for the first time since he had shunned it.  
  
Everything has a price.  
  
The first thing he saw was the quilt, a hand-stitched masterpiece. All the noises of a bustling home in the early hours of the morning were amplified, as if he still needed to get used to using his ears. He dared to open his eyes further than the sleepy slit of vision he had indulged in for a moment, and found a little girl at the foot of the bed. She seemed startled.  
  
"G' day, Mr. Kuja." The little girl performed a clumsy curtsey and ran off.  
  
"Kuja." The name sounded both foreign and familiar on his tongue. He tried to remember where he had been before this, but nothing would rise forward. No memory showed itself in his mind. This little cottage sparked no thought. He had a name, a name which was blurry and clear, both at the same time, to his lips.  
  
His legs were wobbly and he had to lean against the wall for support as he made his way to the open door and looked around the quaint kitchen and table with finely carved chairs of oak. His eyes rested on a frail-looking old lady, making breakfast, or something like it. When he sat down, she jumped and whirled around. Kuja stared at her.  
  
"Who am I?"  
  
"Yer Kuja, suh. Ah ye feelin' okay?"  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"Dali."  
  
"Dali?"  
  
The old woman frowned, then noticed the real blank expression in the young man's eyes. She gaped at him, and he tilted his head to her in inquiry.  
  
"Ye really dun know who ye are?"  
  
At Kuja's shake of the head, the old woman sighed, sounding relieved. She explained that it was for the better that he didn't remember anything. She continued by issuing introductions, taking him on a tour of the village (careful to ignore the windmill), and telling him as much of his story as she could without placing guilt on him. The old lady, known affectionately as "Grammy", decided that he'd live a better fulfilled and kinder life without the hate and ambition which had twisted his heart from creation.  
  
Kuja, ironically, helped Grammy in the vegetable gardens and the re-created farms and sheep herds. The village's inhabitants treated him with warmth, and all was well. All but the empty space in Kuja's mind and heart, where he could remember nothing.  
  
"Um, Grammy?"  
  
"What is it, sonny?"  
  
"I have a tail........"  
  
Grammy laughed, a warm chuckling sound. She stayed on the opposite side of the door where Kuja was dressing, but yelled, "Yer not da only one, sonny!"  
  
Kuja felt much better in clothes that fit him, especially ones that allowed his dove-white tail to move freely, but he still looked confused. Yes, he had noticed the others with tails this morning on the "tour", but he hadn't really had time to..... discover...... this addition to his body. Ah, well. He wasn't the only one. Difference in race did not matter, there were many in this village. The young man would not be fazed. He walked over to Grammy for inspection.  
  
The old lady smiled and buttoned the cuffs of his white shirt. She checked his vest, the color of his eyes, and found it to be fitted as well as it could be. His black trousers and boots were perfect to finish off the outfit, and Grammy stepped back in approval.  
  
"If yer not careful, methinks the gals would make bids on you instead of the merchandise!"  
  
"I wanna make a good impression." He leaned over and pecked Grammy on the cheek in a move of thanks and a temporary good bye. Kuja had taken over the Item store at the request of the former owner so she would be able to watch her son more closely. His first day here and in the store was important to him, so he walked out with his head high, and fumbled with the key to open the little store.  
  
Kuja leaned back in his own bed with a sigh of content. Everything had gone perfectly. The Item Store had had many customers due to a new cargo ship's docking to refuel. After locking up the store, he had spent some time helping Grammy gather vegetables from the graden for dinner, and catching fireflies with Lila, the little girl he had first seen when he woke up, and her freinds. He felt laughter threaten to rip open his heart at the end of it all, and knew this was the life he had been meant for.  
  
That night, Kuja dreamed a peculiar dream. A shining blue light beckoned to him, his homeland, perhaps? The light grew in intensity and disappeared for a time before returning and starting all over again. Kuja wrapped himself up tighter in his quilt, and settled back to sleep. The morning would promise a new day, a beautiful day. He would continue living his peaceful life, and not dare sorrow to cross the line.  
  
The damn dream kept returning..........  
  
"Zidane?"  
  
"Mmf?"  
  
"Are you awake?"  
  
"Well, I am now......."  
  
Dagger leaned over and kissed Zidane's hair. She rested her head on his shoulder, and stared up at the ceiling of the airship chamber. She was restless, and was grateful to Vivi for inviting them on a little "adventure" to show his children to The citizens of the Black Mage village, and teach them about the world and their magic. The castle had gotten stuffy after awhile, and the monsters in the forests were all but extint due to her hunting with Zidane.  
  
"I can't sleep." She mumbled. The Genome responded by wrapping an arm around her, pulling her closer. The young Queen sighed and settled down further in his arms.  
  
"Where's our next stop Zidane?"  
  
Blinking a bloodshot eye at her, he managed to mumble, "Dali."  
  
"Oh. Dali. That's nice... good scenery...."  
  
"Mmm."  
  
"Oh! Sorry, Zidane....." Dagger grinned and nibbled on her lover's ear before finally closing her eyes in sleep.  
  
A whole month had already gone by, and while his complexion didn't change as he expected from his work in the sun, his figure did, much more toned and built, though not overdone. His near feminine figure due to a life of little work whatsoever was smoothed over with muscle and an accent that dripped with masculinity. He was proud of himself, having disliked the body he had worn, much too curvy for a man.  
  
He grinned to himself and continued polishing the counter of his Item Store. Grammy would never let me become vain. He rechecked the inventory then turned around to find the clock. He could open the store a little early today. He had heard from Morrid that there was another cargo ship coming in. Kuja allowed himself a moment to wonder if the travellers would trade any stories of the far-off places they came from. He was overly curious about the world, but couldn't leave Grammy just yet. Not until all the crops were in.  
  
Kuja heaved a sigh, and started to polish the potion bottles.Outside he heard a high wind, and figured the visitors were finally here. He straightened his favorite vest, the one Grammy had made for him the first day he was here, and made a mental check of all the materials on display. Potions, remedies, antidotes, softs, everything was in it's proper place. His tail flicked about as Kuja reached up on the ladder to grab an extra phoenix down for display. As he struggled to reach it, he heard the door open, and began climbing down the ladder, item in hand.  
  
The visitors, which turned out to be routine, purchased the usual stock of potions, phoenix downs, and vaccines. They made tried to make conversation with the young, pale Genome, telling him of the places they'd seen and the amazing landmarks they'd made part of their trip. Afterwards, they'd murmured their goodbyes, like the village's considerably bastardous members would and left on the ship again.  
  
His next visitor was Lila; she always kept him company. He smiled down fondly at the girl, and braided a phoenix pinion into her hair. She giggled, and asked Kuja to tell her a story. Kuja frowned. The child had almost run his imagination dry.  
  
"What kind of story?"  
  
"One with a beautiful princess!"  
  
".....Once upon a time," Kuja began, intending to create a likeness of "I Want To Be Your Canary", which he'd read in the library last week. "There was a beautiful princess. She lived in a giant castle by the sea, and everyone was happy there. The princess fell in love with a man she met in the Castle's Square. They both met secretly afterward, every day, until the man asked the king for his daghter's hand in marriage. The man was a commoner, and the king didn't want a commoner to marry the princess."  
  
"Why not? Weren't they in love?"  
  
"Yes, very deep in love, but the king was greedy. The king wanted his daughter to marry another man, a prince, with a tremendous kingdom."  
  
"Why did he want two kingdoms?" Lila asked, confused.  
  
Kuja smiled wider. "The king thought that the more land he had, the more power came with it. So, he ordered the commoner executed, and also anyone who tried to get in the way. The commoner's mother and father tried to stop the soldiers, and so did one of his friends. They were, all three of them, killed."  
  
"He's a mean man!"  
  
"Yes, he is. In anger, the commoner went to go to his princess, and they were both going to run away together, away from the evil king."  
  
"And?"  
  
"The king found them while they tried to run away. Saddened because of his parents' death, the commoner confronted the king, and they had a duel."  
  
"Did the commoner win?"  
  
Kuja closed his eyes. He'd hate to have to tell a sad ending. Then, a picture, maybe a memory, rushed forward to the front of his mind. "Yes. Yes, the commoner won. And he and the princess flew away on a silver dragon, and lived happily ever after."  
  
"Wow!" Lila's eyes lit up at the idea. She seemed for a moment to stare off into another place, as if watching the two lovers fly away. When her eyes focused on his again, she gave him a choke-hold hug, and bounded off, eager to spread the story.  
  
"My silver dragon......" Kuja closed his eyes and remembered his pet. Silvery feathers floating everywhere, and its malevolent gaze. But that was where it stopped. No more could be seen.  
  
When it was time to close down the store, Kuja watched the children play their games of tag and catch-the-firefly. When the festivities were over, he and Lila went inside to retire to the shadow's symphony. That night's song was peaceful and lulling for all, except one.  
  
Except Kuja.  
  
In his dream, he saw the blue light. That comforting light that signified his home. That harsh and hurting light that seared his eyes and made them water. The same light that was constantly snuffed out and turned crimson. That dark of despair that made his insides churn with fear. The red light could be bearable, even loving. Its blood hues seemed to welcome him just as much as the blue. And then the cerulean light was born again, and it's arms were opened wide, ready to protect him.  
  
The lights would not let him go. He was theirs.  
  
Kuja turned over in his sleep, sweating and breathing heavily. Grammy stood over him concerned, and made a ward over him.  
  
"Oh Alexander. Don't let this poor boy be misguided."  
  
The Genome visibly calmed, and his sleeping patterns returned to normal. The kind old woman watched him for a minute more, then went back to check on Lila for the night.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: What'd you think? If you liked it, tell me so and I'll write more! If you flame it, I'll probably ignore you and write more anyways! There will be action pertaining to my rating in the next one or two chapters so you won't be bored. Can anyone think of a name for Kuja's silver dragon? 


	2. Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
Kuja plucked the last of the carrots from the ground and wiped his sweat- soaked forehead on his sleeve. It had been hard work, trying to get the crops harvested before the coming of winter, but thank Alexander it was finally over! He let his mind wander to the journeys he could take, the things he might see, the people he might meet. There was nothing left to do until spring planting, and Kuja had plans for the winter.  
  
Grammy insisted that he make a trip over to the Forgotten Continent. She said Esto Gaza would do him a "world of good". Treno and Lindblum and rebuilt Alexandria also ranked high on his list of destinations. Morrid was building a samll, but fast, airship in return for a healthy (or unhealthy judging the amount of caffeine) sum of his favorite Kirman coffee. It would be ready on the dawn, and Kuja had packed two weeks early. It would be difficult, of course, to leave the village, even temporarily, after the short three months he had spent in their hospitality. They urged him forward, with a strange glimmer in their eyes, and were determined to let him see his world. Maybe he would find something of his past.  
  
His thoughts flickered back to the present as he took the pitcher of water from Lila and poured the bot of them a drink. He watched her sip, wondering if she'd miss him. When she finished, she climbed into his lap and closed her tired eyes.  
  
"Some of us worked harder than they thought." he whispered, and carried her to the cottage.  
  
"Ye better get some rest, sonny," Grammy took the sleeping girl from his arms, "Ye have a long trip ahead o' ye."  
  
"Of course, Grammy. Don't tire yourself out tonight." Kuja retired to his room and closed the door softly. When he heard it latch, he shed his stained shirt and lay back on the soft, downy pillows.  
  
The dream had left him alone. Just yesterday, he had had his first peaceful sleep. Before that, it had been dying, but it was now completely gone. Kuja was both relieved and troubled by its disappearance. It was the one shred of proof he had that he didn't belong here. One half of a memory of another life and a mischievious dragon-friend. If he didn't have it with him, how would he know where to go?  
  
'Dun ye go too far on that ice-covered place, Kuja. There be trouble on da horizon.' Grammy had said, when he first told her about his plans. Why not? What was out there?  
  
Thinking too hard made his imagination drift forward, letting him dream. Peacefully.  
  
"There ye are, boy! Get up over here, and take a ganduh at yer ship!"  
  
Kuja obediently followed the man's gaze to the small version of an airship ahead of him. It had a cabin, just big enough for one or two passengers, and the bridge was open on the deck. Carved into its side was the name "Angel's Envy". The craftsmanship was incredible, far more worthy of a mountain of ground coffee, let alone a small hill that the contract called for! Because of it's size and the ever-efficient non-Mist engines, it was fast and quiet.  
  
"I promise you, Mr. Morrid, if there's any coffee left in the world, it'll belong to you!" The grin the elder man gave, not only from praise but the dream of more caffeine, spread to Kuja and the other folks that had gathered from curiosity. The Genome boarded the ship, went over the controls with the creator of the masterpiece, and threw his bags and few belongings into the cabin. He went out to the deck and leaned over the starboard railing. Waving his farewells and repeating promises to return home, he was about to turn and start his adventure, when he noticed a small face puch to the front of the crowd.  
  
"Kuja! Kuja, don't go!"  
  
It was Lila. "In the spring, I'll come home and tell you all the stories!" The airship pulled against its tetherings as if impaitient, and Mr. Morrid cut the ropes. The engine whispered, and the young man headed toward the the city lights of Treno.  
  
  
  
"Daaaaaaaaad! Vela stole my mog-doll!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"QUIET!" a voice rumbled from a corner of the Invincible. Amarant stalked forward, "I hate kids." Vela and a smaller black mage with a violet ribbon around her droopy hat shuddered and returned to what Vivi had dubbed "the play area". The red-headed man sat down on the floor and sharpened his Rune Claws. "The damn things can't shut up."  
  
"You! You bastard!"  
  
"Who? I? I not do nothing!"  
  
"I'm gonna kill you!"  
  
"See what I mean?" Amarant shot Freya an exasperated glance as Zidane chased Quina around the interior after, once again, wakening with a frog in his shirt. Vivi stood, amused, not saying anything as was his usual response to outbursts like these. His Mace of Zeus gleamed in his hands and he turned back to two of his sons and and a daughter, both learning Bio and Thundara.  
  
It was a typical morning like this that reminded Freya that she had horrible insight. Nevertheless neither she nor the loner Amarant held any regrets and sometimes found these events funny, at their own expense. The peace wouldn't last for more than two hours before a spell would get out of control or Zidane lost his temper or both, but Dali was near, and they'd reach it by night fall. Thank the weather for a slight reprieve from this chaos!, Freya thought, and smirked.  
  
  
  
Treno was a beautiful place, filled with amazing architecture and even more amazing items for sale at the auction houses. The card tournament had kept him considerably busy being defeated more often than victorious. A little man named Doctor Tot, oddly suprised to see him, Kuja noticed, had been kind enough to give the young man access to his immense library of books on science, drama, and magic.  
  
Kuja was impressed by the city, and was still exploring it's twists and turns. He had stopped at the Cafe Carta, borrowing Grammy's old membership card, and watched the people pass and gossip. The night grew darker and darker and he decided it was time to find the inn. He started down the street and turned into what turned out to be an alley. Not noticing his wrong direction, his thoughts lost in the events of the day, he kept on down the damp place.  
  
His instincts flared as he felt a growing prescence behind him. He hastened his footsteps, hearing his followers do the same. Now at a dead run, Kuja traced the winding paths of the alley before running straight into a dead end. A throaty and slurred chuckle rose behind him, but the Genome felt no fear. Something within him sparked and glowed, and Kuja made a "grab" for it. A wave of energy flowed through him, familiar and comforting, and he lashed out at the three men in front of him.  
  
"Fira!" There were screams to his right, and the burning bodies provided his only light. The other one, faster than his drunken counterparts, lunged at him, dagger bared. Kuja, in a slow, fluid motion, stepped to the left and used the man's momentum to carry him head over heels. He waitied, amused, while the thief got up from the ground. The burly man wiped at his cut lip and made a flurry of cuts and slashes. Kuja avoided them all in a near-dance art of dodging, ending with the finale of disarming the other man, and driving him through the stomach with his own weapon.  
  
The blood rushed forward, a little red lake around the dying man's feet. The thief's body was still being held up by the dagger, by Kuja. The man whispered something, choking around the foaming blood at his lips. The Genome whispered something back and withdrew the dagger. The thief lie among his friends' burnt and blackened bodies, his hands tight over his wound, trying not to look at it, trying not to look at the grotesque vision of his guts seeping through his fingers. He was a dead man. He was a damned dead man.  
  
He had whispered, "Who are you?!"  
  
The silver-haired man whispered back, "I wish I knew."  
  
  
  
At the inn, Kuja huddled under a mass of sheets and blankets, frightened by what had happened to him in the alley. His body convulsed and shivered constantly, his hands were still red with another man's blood. He had killed tonight. With his own hands he had.....  
  
He had summoned magic. Even with the White Mages in the village, Kuja had thought little of magic, yet here it was coming forth from his own energy, his own hands, his own mind. It was terrible, yet it was..... beautiful; it was power.  
  
No! Kuja screamed at himself, mentally, Don't you dare do this to Lila! To Grammy! So Kuja had decided. He would not got to Lindblum. Not until he had trained himself to control this. Not until his soul was cleansed of blood at Esto Gaza.  
  
  
  
The wind did little to calm his nerves. The chill, chill breeze was a blessing to his fevered and flushed face. Esto Gaza was near, the Forgotten Continent, the "ice-covered place". Soon, his mind would be at peace, if there was anything the Priest could do. Still....... Kuja's mind wandered to Grammy's warning. What was so dangerous that she forbade him wandering? Full of curiosity, he didn't know if he could follow good advice. He hadn't promised. She didn't have to know. Esto Gaza was silhouetted against the glimmering ice. He landed carefully, and climbed the stairs, weighed down with remorse.  
  
The Priest was a kind man, if a little nosy. He listened, but with an almost divided attention. He saw, but with eyes that were seeing some other time. At the end of Kuja's story, the old man laid a hand on the young man's shoulder, reassuring him that his past deeds would be forgotten, and that is was wise to see the world, not just for it's beauty or history, but for the lessons each person could teach him. Kuja got the feeling that the reassurances were routine.  
  
So, instead of seeking understanding there, he sought it in the cold winds and calming scenery of the continent, travelling to it's corners and taking in the sight of the Shimmering Island. He also spent a little time in homing his magic skills against the beasts of this region, and exploring the depths of his abilities.  
  
Hunting further game led him into a cave; small of opening and wide and maze-like within. Kuja stopped to look around at the polished walls of the cavern, something he doubted could happen naturally. Further investigation proved him right, with doors and the rooms beyond them carved into the mountain. Every step he gained, every ounce of the feeling that someone was watching him was being added on. He kept feeling someone whispering to him, telling him what he once was, why he had that power, why he had killed those men, but he could never make out what they said. Weary and confused, Kuja collapsed at the top of a staircase. His vision blurred over as he tried to make out the shape in front of him, but the night claimed him.  
  
Great, silvery wings made a cocoon around Kuja's sleeping body, and protected him from his own mind's storm.  
  
  
  
Back in Dali, the old woman whom many affectionately called "Grammy" stood on top of a mountain, staring into the sky where Kuja had left three days ago. Inside the sleeping village lay the famous Zidane Tribal. The man who saved the world. Saved the world from a monster, a creature bent on destruction and death.  
  
The old, frail form of the woman melted away to reveal an ice queen. Shiva had known of the consequences of Kuja's resurrection. She saw his broken body and gave his former mind the shards to find itself so that it could begin anew. She saw how he had cared for this village and knew that he had changed. She knew that he could also revert. She knew that her mistress, her summoner, could find him, and crush him. She knew everything, except for how her Kuja would raise himself.  
  
Shiva looked down at the little town with longing. She hoped Queen Garnet wouldn't need her services for too long. This was the price of her concern of the remainder of Kuja's mind, her concern for this world's safety from Terra.  
  
Everything has a price.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: I'm still stuck without a name for Kuja's dragon, so I'll take any suggestions! My thanks to Athena for my first review! Chapter three is under way as you read this, and will include a lot of the action I promised! Please review! 


	3. Of Ultima.....

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
Dagger sighed and leaned her head back. "I hate to do this to you, Shiva. I saw your attachment to this place."  
  
"I won't be gone forever." The ice queen sipped cautiously at her tea; she had already frozen the cup over in concern for Kuja. Had they found out about him yet?  
  
"I had a dream, you know. I wouldn't have summoned you if it weren't for that."  
  
"Oh? What about?"  
  
"Kuja. It was like he never died, and it was like everything was going to happen over again."  
  
The herbal tea beneath Shiva's lips froze and cracked the little china cup. Damn, she thought. And what had the villagers told about Kuja?  
  
"Is it all right? I know you were still training that little girl........ Lila, was her name? She seemed saddened about something; I assumed it was because of your leaving."  
  
You assume too much, my summoner.  
  
Where is my darling boy?  
  
"We were thinking of going to Esto Gaza. You know, to monitor Terra...."  
  
Damn again.  
  
Kuja's ice-blue eyes fluttered open. He observed his surroundings like a child would with a new toy. The smooth ice walls of the cavern were curved upward like a stone dome. Tall and wide double doors, decorated with intricate metallic designs, stood open at the other end of the room. Kuja was safely bundled up against the carved wall. Even under the multitudes of warm blankets, he shivered. The young man now wished he'd never left home.  
  
'Home? What is this home of yours?'  
  
Kuja stood up, shedding all but one of the blankets, out of necessity. He looked toward the source of the mind-voice, only to find shadows. The whole room was shadowy, but the west and southwest sides were enshrouded in a makeshift night. The Genome, sliding more than walking, made his way across slick floors, stumbling into the dark haven of his mind's perpetrator. Trying to stand, Kuja slipped again.  
  
A giant wing went out to steady him, and Kuja used it for support until he was sitiing in front of the creature who had spoke to him. Silver feathers were everywhere, floating in the air. An amused gaze fell upon him from pools of black. The dragon, the real "Angel's Envy" repeated his question with the smallest hint of humor in it.  
  
'What is this home of yours?'  
  
"D-dali......" then again with more confidence, "Dali is my home."  
  
'You once dreamed of a home, is this not true?'  
  
"I belong in Dali, with Grammy and.......... Lila!'  
  
'You do not belong to this world. Your home is Terra. It is my duty to bring you back to the crimson light which you destroyed.'  
  
"Destroyed? How could I have- I've never been outside of Dali!"  
  
'No. All you can remember is Dali. That's different. What you had done, what your former self had done, was to destroy your own homeland. Perhaps..... it was because you were created, never born.'  
  
"I don't understand." But Kuja did understand, a very small sliver. He remembered why both the blue and the red lights had always been snuffed out, been eaten by each other. Because he had destroyed it all, his own homeland; but even if this was so, all he could remember was his feelings. He couldn't remember what had driven him to the conclusion that all had to be destroyed. He choked on his words, "I don't understand!"  
  
'You are my master, Kuja. I have no tight, nor the desire to force you to learn who you were. Please calm yourself! ....I had given up finding you, but here you are, right in front of me. You're so very real. Where are you going to go now?'  
  
"Would you..... Would you take me to Dali? I want to ask Grammy what..... She knew who I was."  
  
'On the morrow, Kuja. The night is treacherous near Esto Gaza.' A mental laughter filled his mind, 'You and I both seem to think the same of those Priests.'  
  
Kuja lay down, sheltered by a silver wing, and sorted out the questions he had when he got back "home". 'There's just something else......'  
  
"Yes?"  
  
'Do you remember what you named me?'  
  
Kuja sighed, his first memory, however terrible his past might have been to destroy worlds, was of a King of the Skies. "I named you...... Radali." The Genome slipped into a different symphony of night, one more familiar than any he had ever heard.  
  
  
  
It was the early evening now. The sun seemed to reflect off of the little cottages of Dali. The sight was breath taking at this alititude, and Kuja reveled in it. The little houses and stores looked like a child's toys, and the people her dolls. The flight here was moderately paced, due to Radali's love of scenery, but they had made good time. Despite the man's joy at coming back to Dali, something that seemed to wait his arrival disturbed his subconcious mind.  
  
There was an airship landed just outside of the town, a monstrousity of blue metal. Kuja clutched at Radali's "mane" and shuddered. 'Master, that's........'  
  
"The Invincible!"  
  
Kuja's eyes went blank as he remembered the eye. The all-seeing eye. He was created. Created to destroy, why deny fate? Why tell yourself you are different from a soulless vessel and fulfill the exact footsteps that had been laid out? Why tell yourself that Fate has no holds on you and then follow it's every whim? The pain, the glory, the blood! You ruled your mind, but you gave in to the laws of others! You rebelled only to do what you would've done!  
  
Ambition blood pain glory war weapon kill kill kill pain glory POWER! nothing, nothing, you are nothing, no life, no soul, nothing YOU ARE NOTHING!  
  
Kuja's hands trembled. Radali rolled one jet black eye up to look at him with concern. The Genome's body convulsed and shuddered, listening to his mind's conflict. It wasn't true, it couldn't be!  
  
"IT'S NOT TRUE!" Kuja's reverie shocked him off the back of Radali. Screaming his defiance, a high-pitched cry, the dragon dove after his fallen master........  
  
  
  
A dragon's cry!  
  
Dagger's head snapped up in shock. Shiva's hand gripped the table and it froze in her fingers and broke to pieces. Kuja had come back! Dagger knew the dragon's call, but she'd soon know who flew with it, that couldn't be allowed! But Shiva could not defy her summoner...... She was forced to withdraw to the Opal. All the while she prayed for Kuja's safety.  
  
"Zidane!"  
  
"I heard it, Rusty, I heard it!" Steiner, Amarant, and Zidane rushed out of the inn and looked up. A silver dragon was making a dive, then pulled up sharply, knocking over the villagers with a large gust of wind. Zidane bore his Ultima weapon from it's sheath, and ran for the creature's landing site. Dagger was there. Eiko, Freya, and Vivi were coming from the Observatory. For once, Zidane wished Quina were here with it's Blue Magic. No time. Not now.  
  
The dragon bore its fangs before them and hissed. A limp body was being protected behind and to the side of the creature. Silver hair, pale skin.  
  
"It's Kuja!" Freya yelled, but Zidane hardly heard her. Weapons bared, the party lunged for the silver dragon.  
  
A metallic clank resounded as Zidane's weapon met with claws. The intense heat of a Firaga spell lashed over him, catching Steiner and Eiko full on. He could hear Dagger yelling, cursing, struggling with an uncooperatie eidolon to his left. The dragon screamed at Zidane and threw him back towards Amarant, bowling them both over like rag dolls. The form behind the dragon stirred......  
  
The form behind the dragon stirred. Kuja sat up and rubbed at his head. It took merely a second to take in all his surroundings. Radali was fighting all of them, holding his own by a sliver that his spells would allow. The little black mage threw a powerful Blizzaga at him, and he fell to the ground screeching of frostbite and dull pain. Another Genome, Zidane, his brother, Flew at the dragon, leapt, weapon naked in the dying sun. It was closing in for Radali's heart.....  
  
Kuja's eyes flickered, lightning began to crackle around him, everything was tinted crimson. His hair flashed from silver to a blood-red hue. The energy was unharnessed but Kuja tapped it anyways. This was Trance. He would destroy them all. He was the most powerful, and only the strongest would survive. White-hot energy burst forth in the form of a wave, washing over everything in deafening silence. Even so he heard himself screaming.  
  
Everything was burning, he could smell the blood boiling. So much, so much that was spilling and seeping into the ground, through the soil and then in another world, where the souls of many dying would feast on it, and dream of the Terra they once knew. There were other screams, many familiar. The village was burning, burning itself to damnation.  
  
Stop!  
  
'They got away, Kuja. All of them.' Radali growled.  
  
Kuja gasped in the smoky air. What had happened? Radali was next to him, shielding him once more but from a more physical threat. The man threw the wing off him, and ran into the village. Everything had burned down. there wasn't even anything left from the flames to feed another one, even a campfire. Kuja dug through the ashes of old homes, wept over Grammy's vegetable garden, and the old Item Store. He found the scorched forms of little children in the midst of playing tag when the heat killed them. But still, he searched until he came upon a ruined little cottage on the edge of the town.  
  
He ducked under fallen beams and stepped carefully around coals when he heard a little moan come from the room next to him. Overjoyed at the thought of a survivor, Kuja forced open the door......... and his little world fell around him.  
  
Little Lila lay on the floor, charred one one whole side of her body. Kuja dropped to his knees and cradled the little girl in his arms, tears now flowing over the dam he had built over him. One small green eye blinked up at him, and the unscathed part of the young child's face smiled carefully.  
  
"K-k............kuja?"  
  
"Yes, Lila, I'm here. Hush now, you're gonna be all right, it's all....."  
  
"I m-m-m-missed you..... so much....... Will you.......tell....... me a story?"  
  
Kuja couldn't even respond. The girl fell limp in his arms, with half a smile still on her face. The tears came more, and more, until he thought he might drown in his own sorrow. He screamed over and over, rocking the small burnt body back and forth in his arms.  
  
And then he and his princess flew away on a silver dragon. Never to claim a happily ever after.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: It was a little awkward with Kuja and Radali's first conversation, but it sure did flow after that...... Thanks to Nemear for the silver dragon's name. There were excellent names offered by Daze Riot too. Now, I need to go find a tissue....... 


	4. Birth of an Angel

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
Kuja didn't dare to close his eyes. Lila's body, once so full of life, haunted the shadows of sleep. He shivered, and pulled the blankets tighter around him. He had become a monster. Radali had done his best to explain what had happened to him during Trance, but..... there were those spaces that could never be filled again. The Genome's breath caught in his throat as he thought of the village. What would become of him now?  
  
And his brother.... Kuja's whole body convulsed as he thought of his little brother, glaring at him with such intensity. Had he done such terrible things in the past to make so many people hate him? Does Lila hate me? he wondered. He could feel Radali shift uncomfortably next to him, as if reading his thoughts. The young man had grown accustomed to that. He sighed and rolled over, willing the ice wall to allow him to gaze through it, and peered on the sleeping monastery of Esto Gaza. Kuja had made up his mind. He would go to Terra, and discover his past, however cruel. Anything right now to get him far away from anyone he could hurt.  
  
The silver dragon "sighed" with relief over that decision and settled down for a good night's sleep. Kuja was going to need it, but didn't know if he would take rest in return for terror.  
  
The next morning, Kuja felt both refreshed and haunted. The makeshift window of ice beheld a beautiful dawn, but the scenery meant little in comfort or otherwise. Everything was ready for a journey into the unknown. Terra, his homeland, which was smited by his own hand, and turned to dust. Terra, the world which he loathed and longed for.  
  
He settled himself on Radali's back unceremoniously. The trip was made in complete silence, even as they were pulled down through the Shimmering Island. As his feet touched the soil of another world, Kuja looked around in wonder, his eyes refusing to believe it. Nothing was here. Nothing but rubble and fallen pillars and demented souls, who shied away from him, as if from a disease. These were all Terran souls, Kuja found out the hard way, half-hoping to find a remnant of Lila's spirit here. It was for the better. His heart would've broken seeing her in such a dim, cold place. She belonged in Alexander's eternal light.  
  
One soul, one he had forgotten and yet still remembered, finally approached him from the paranoid and screeching souls. Dressed in black armor, he was an old man, and frail looking.  
  
"G-garland?"  
  
"I'm suprised you remembered my name. Kuja. I've watched you the past four months."  
  
"What am I? What is it that makes so many, even those incapable of emotion, fear me?"  
  
"You're a weapon, boy. You were ambitious, dangerous, even to your creator. In the end, you strove to go against your fate-" Kuja cringed at the last, "and destroyed me. You destroyed your own world. Twice now, it seems." The old man chuckled, a sickly laughter that made Kuja's heart leap into his throat.  
  
"Come. There's a place I'd like to show you."  
  
  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Red wine spattered all over Zidane, but he was beyond caring. Taking his time with unfolding the napkin, he kept his gaze steady with Blank's. Eventually the red-haired man sank back into his chair, choking on the remnant of the wine glass he didn't manage to cough up onto the table. Zidane dabbed at his face with a faraway look in his eyes. Finally done sputtering, Blank managed to find a calmer voice.  
  
"You're trying to tell me he's back? From the dead?!" His voice began to strain again.  
  
"You don't believe me? C'mon, Blank!"  
  
"Whoa, bro. It's not that. It's that I don't want to believe you....."  
  
The Genome nodded and became sullen again. "He seemed different. Well, for the first two seconds til he became the old Kuja."  
  
Blank shivered, "What do you mean 'the old Kuja'?"  
  
"He wiped out Dali. You didn't hear?" Both Blank and Zidane fell silent.  
  
"How you gonna explain this to the boss?"  
  
"Well, that's what you're here for, buddy." Zidane patted his fellow thief on the back and excused himself from the restaurant, leaving Blank with a ..... well, blank expression.  
  
"Man, how'm I supposed to..... huh?"  
  
"Excuse me, sir.... your bill?" The maitre-d handed Blank a bill..... for 600 gil.  
  
"HEY!" The Tantalus member leapt from his seat again, running after Zidane and praying to Alexander that the maitre-d didn't catch him.  
  
When he finally slammed the door behind him and locked it, he was breathing heavily. He sheepishly looked up into the questioning eyes of Baku.  
  
"Hey, while I'm about to get a tongue-lashing, boss, did ya know Kuja's alive? Again?"  
  
  
  
"What is this place?"  
  
"It's called Memoria. It was built completely of your memories, and later your brother's. I guess you could say I felt sorry for my machine. You'll find your answers within."  
  
Garland disappeared, making a bright and smoky show of it. Kuja stood, stroking Radali's neck as if he, too, needed an amount of comfort. Finally, Kuja gathered his scattered wits and climbed the staircase into the unknown.  
  
At every bend, there was a memory of his childhood, alone and uncomforted. Many mistakes had hardened him around the edges, having had no one to teach him. At every corner, he saw a vision of his growing years, when he first met his threat: a whining baby. And at every place where two paths crossed, he saw what he really was, what twenty four years of no emotions had done to his soul.  
  
"The weak lose their freedom to the strong. Such is the way of the strong. And it is the providence of nature that only the strong survive. That is why I needed strength. I learned of powers that would daunt even him.... over ten years ago."  
  
Kuja shuddered, but with understanding, not fear. This is what his life was. The battle for strength, but in the end, his own prophecy was true. He didn't live, he was weak. His brother was stronger, and triumphed. He never got a chance. Not to live like he did. He was weak.  
  
"Oh my, I'm just drowning in self-pity."  
  
Kuja whirled around. Standing before him was..... himself. Long billowing sleeves, slim waist, the hip-cloak that hid his tail in a last effort to deny his birthright. Silver hair and white feathers. This is the weapon that turned on it's master. This is what he became.  
  
(Author's Note: I didn't wanna spoil the suprise, so I'll just interrupt here. The Kuja we know from the game will have a * by his name. Will that help? ^_~)  
  
"You don't rule this life anymore. You're dead." The Kuja Lila loved laughed and waited for a response. His counterpart frowned.  
  
"I was close," he said, "I was close enough, I could touch the darkness. If I had made it....." ut he didn't continue, instead, he shot a Flare spell at his "brother" of the soul. Kuja spun out of the way, mainly to show that he still held the same grace and power that Kuja* did. Then, he got serious. Both had brandished weapons of Ultima energy, and both had set to circling for an opening. Great minds really do think alike.  
  
There were sparks everywhere, the "swords" sizzled as they met, blow for blow, in a flashing and hypnotic dance of death. Kuja parried but was met again by his dark counterpart. He slashed upward in an attempt to wear him down but failed, and was returned with a cut to exchange. The stalemate continued, both were sweating, breathing heavily. Kuja* smiled his demonic smile, and both lunged. The white-hot blades of Ultima flashed forward in a long line of light.....  
  
And both fell.  
  
Lying, broken and bleeding, Kuja* finished his story, "If I had made it. I would've been immune. There would have been no one...... to hurt me." He gargled up blood, and turned his head and spat.  
  
"I wish you had met Lila. You would've liked her." Kuja began choking on his own blood.  
  
"So.... we're both gonna die? We didn't even make it out?"  
  
"No. I have something to hold onto. I won't let myself perish." He flashed an equally demonic smile, "I have an idea."  
  
"Why am I suddenly frightened?" Both laughed, like schoolboys would.  
  
"Become one with me. We'll live as one."  
  
"We're monsters. They won't let us live."  
  
Kuja clutched at his counterpart's hand. Now he understood what had made both of them monsters in their own ways. He was right, of course. They wouldn't be able to live. But at least now, they had a choice. They could become the Angel of Death again. With both man's powers, they could wipe out Zidane. Rebuild Dali. Maybe if they brought Terra back, Lila could come with the stream of souls.... find a new body.  
  
"They cannot defeat the Angel of Death." Both said at once. A blue light flashed from within Kuja, as the red light did from his counterpart. He was whole again. No one could hurt him. Terra would become one again. Lila would be back.  
  
All was as it should be.  
  
  
  
".....Bro...... You sure you didn't get petrified again?"  
  
"I'm serious! Zidane told me everything! He even..... wiped out Dali. Poof. Gone."  
  
"Gwahahahaha! Well, boys. It seems we've got a job on our hands. Zidane'll need us to keep an eye on him. Again."  
  
"So............. we'll go polish up the Prima Vista, boss?"  
  
Baku blinked. Well, sure, why not look snazzy just in case they blew up, or something..... "No, you fool! Go prepare the weaponry!"  
  
"Yes, sir!" The Tantalus members saluted, and ran off in a frenzy for the airship.  
  
"Zidane, you've sure changed. You and your princess and all. Why, if you get killed by Kuja this time, who's gonna take care of your little boy?"  
  
  
  
Author's Note: I could be ruining the moment or something but.... I am the Queen of the unexpected!!! (Blank: Yes, darling, now sit down...) Oh... right! I'm so happy! look at all my reviews! And only four days! Anyhoo, this chapter went kinda slow and boring-ish. I'll make it up to you! Please review, if you haven't already! 


	5. To Alexandria

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
It was the promise of a beautiful day. The sky erupted into flames, turning what clouds there were to tones of rose and copper. The dawn marked a new beginning, a page unwritten, for an era that would bring a world through shock and confusion and into the hands of it's new ruler. Kuja looked through what he dared to call a "window" to overlook Esto Gaza again with impaitience. His plan involved taking out that bothersome monastery first. He did need target practice for the return of his higher powers after all.  
  
"Radali?" The silver dragon raised his head in interest, "Shall we go?"  
  
The Angel of Death looked down upon the small building with amusement. Nothing slow.... he thought, I'll make Alexandria suffer enough. Decided, he raised his hand and summoned forth the energies of Ultima. With one last forlorn gaze at the peaceful place, he threw the spell down to the earth. Ultima raced downward, its heat too much to be ignored by the doomed humans below. They foolishly ran outside to watch their own death sentence in wonder and awe as it crashed around them. Esto Gaza was obliterated. Kuja was elated.  
  
"It's time they paid! Alexandria!" He laughed, a dreamy but wicked sound. On Radali's back, he flew away to the city of Alexandria, where he would find those who pushed him to his limits. Those who really took Lila's life. Ironically, he chose to wear the clothes Grammy had made for him on his first day anew; it was only fitting.  
  
The white Genome laughed again, and all who heard it shivered, and wondered what would become of them now.  
  
  
  
"So we were going to....."  
  
"Uncle Blank! Uncle Marcus!" A little boy, no older than ten, bounded up to the three Tantalus members. Chocolate colored hair and an equally sable tail were all that was visible to the common passersby. The child skidded to a stop, losing his balance and toplling over at Zidane's feet. Zidane lifted him up and ruffled his hair.  
  
"Da--ad! You're embarassing me!"  
  
"Koh, you're supposed to be-"  
  
"Mama said that you're gonna be in trouble if you don't come home!" Koh placed his hands on his hips and stamped his foot in Dagger-fashion, "Right now!", he claimed in a pathetic attempt to copy his mother's voice. Blank politely coughed and nudged his fellow thief.  
  
"...... Blank, Marcus, could you just.... watch him for a minute?" Zidane ran for the palace as fast as humanly possible, leaving his two friends to ponder on how they were going to keep the little boy busy for half an hour.  
  
"You know, the city streets ain't a place for a young prince."  
  
"I'm not a prince! I'm a world-class thief like my dad!"  
  
Blank and Marcus looked at each other with smirks on their faces, "If you're such a great thief, you oughta be in Tantalus!"  
  
"Tantalus! Like you guys? How do I get in?"  
  
"Well..... You gotta find some treasure!"  
  
"Uh, of course, it has to be worthy of a thief!"  
  
"Cool! I'll do that right now!" Koh ran off, leaving his babysitters in the dust  
  
"Look what you did now, Marcus!"  
  
"Me?! You know I'm not good with kids!"  
  
"Well, who is?" Silence.  
  
"Ruby!"  
  
  
  
"This is gonna be the best! Where would Dad go to find treasure?"  
  
Quaintly, but to the misfortune of Alexandria's rich, there was a convention being held in the town square. A horde of Nobles were collecting, trading, and examining antiques. Koh strode up to the group, making polite conversation as was expected, and listening to the auctioneer rattle off about various items.  
  
"And here we have a few lovely little items.... All together in a set!" Koh's attention perked up; a whole set of treasure might make me a better thief than Dad! The auctioneer displayed four small round mirrors, each of a different color. Their craftmanship caught the prince's eyes, and he made up his mind. That's what he'd bring back for Tantalus!  
  
"Ruby? Rubyyyy!!"  
  
"Hold your horses, darlin', I ain't short of hearin'!"  
  
"Hey, how's business?"  
  
"Aw, now ain't you sweet? Comin' over to check on lil' ol' me!"  
  
"Uh, yeah..... Anyways, we got stuck babysitting the prince and.... we were wondering if you could....... maybe help us find him?"  
  
"You lost that poor chillun? I bet he's scared to death!"  
  
"And you coming after him's gonna make him so much calmer......" Marcus mumbled.  
  
"Huh? You say something sugar?" Ruby had a look on her face that told Marcus he'd better not be messing with her.  
  
"N-no! Nothing! Let's go!"  
  
"The mirrors had been safely swiped and were just barely jingling in his pockets. Glowing with excitement and pride, he skipped his merry little way for Ruby's theater, where he'd wait until his uncles gave up on looking for him. Behind him, in the city square, all chaos had broken loose as the bidders found the main attraction stolen- surely by some vagabond.....  
  
  
  
Kuja stood astride Radali, glancing over Alexandria with a tilted chin. This was going to be such fun. Slowly, Radali made his descent and landed in the shadows of a tall parapet. No one had noticed. All the little people were busying themselves with material possessions, not even aware of Death's prescence. Kuja raised his hands and prepared a Thundaga spell.  
  
"Act One begins."  
  
  
  
"The pendant!" He had almost forgotten. "Mama'll kill me if I lose it!"  
  
Koh ran back down the alley towards the convention. As he was running, a single silver feather dropped down from above. The little prince looked up.... into the malevolent gaze of a giant dragon.  
  
  
  
The Thundaga spell startled the Nobles, but not near enough. Kuja and Radali fluttered down into the midst of chaos. More and more Thundagas flew from his hands, the people gave out short, firghtened cries before their breath sizzled in their lungs. Deciding his game had gone on far too long, Kuja unleashed his Flare Star, finishing off the majority of the meddlesome Nobles. As he was about to turn to the castle, Radali stopped him.  
  
'Master! The boy!'  
  
"What?"  
  
'That child down there... the Prince of Alexandria!'  
  
Kuja smiled to himself. "It seems I have a new playmate."  
  
Koh was frozen in fear as the ice-blue eyes of Death fell upon him.  
  
  
  
Dagger's head bobbed slightly in agreement as she and Zidane went over a plan with the protection of Gaia. She was just thinking where Koh might be, worried that he had been left in the hands of his "uncles", when she heard screams below the tower.  
  
"Zidane!"  
  
"Let's go!"  
  
Oh Koh, please be safe! She grabbed the Tiger Racket and the Opal jewel and sprinted off with Zidane. On the way, they ran into Vivi and his eldest son, off down the alleys and side-streets. Everything was a blur of magic and fleeing bodies.  
  
  
  
"MAMA!"  
  
Everything in the square suddenly went silent. The Nobles, the newly arrived "heroes", even the souls of those dead stopped in their transgression from one life to the next in cold anticipation.  
  
Kuja smiled at the child. His tender, white neck was in his hand, a Holy spell cocked in the fist of the other. Queen Garnet screamed for her child; Zidane held her under control, trying to rationalize with his brother.  
  
The heat of the spell grew stronger, the little boy's eyes widened and his mouth mouthed a silent plea for help.  
  
"This is for Dali! Zidane, this is for my princess!"  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Hee hee hee! Don't ya hate the suspense? Will Kuja kill the child of his greatest enemy? Will Koh's parents be able to rescue him in time? You'll have to find out in the next chapter! Oh and by the way: Keep the reviews flowing! This is really inspiration!  
  
Kuja: *looks down at Wakizashi* .............  
  
Me: ............ 


	6. Decided

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
He held the little boy's life in his hands now. Kuja brought his hand, charged with Holy, back farther as he proclaimed his revenge. The light reflected off the child's tears, his parents and friends screaming for his safety. The fist plunged......  
  
'Kuja, don't! Please, Kuja, stop!'  
  
And stopped.  
  
"Lila?" Kuja shuddered, and looked down into the honey eyes of the small prince. He was her age...... She would never want him to do this, not even in her name. Part of him, the old Kuja, shouted his defiance, but he let loose the spell, and it reverted back into his energy. Covering his shocked and hurt face with a mask of disinterest, he dropped the child unceremoniously on the ground. He nodded, once, to the boy, and he scampered to his father's safer hold.  
  
"He'll be a strong young man one day......... brother." As he stood, Radali flapped down to make the escape. Kuja ran his fingers through his long silver hair with an air of authority. Everything was still silent. The pale Genome mounted his silver dragon, and fled.  
  
  
  
"Dad?" Koh's voice was just a hum in Zidane's ear. Right now his mind was cluttered with rage, battle-lust, and a strange brotherly love. His son had to repeat himself a few more times before he finally heard him. "Dad!"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"It was something really weird, you know...... When Uncle Kuja had me."  
  
Zidane shuddered, "What is it?"  
  
"Well, just before.... the spell.....there was this girl, standing right behind him, didn't you see her?"  
  
"Koh, there was no one-"  
  
"But there was! I think she might have been his friend, because she told him.... not to hurt me..."  
  
"Koh, there couldn't have been-"  
  
"She looked weird. Like, I could see through her or something..... Maybe I should tell Mom? Dad? Dad?!"  
  
"Yes, go tell your mother....."  
  
"Dad? What's wrong?"  
  
"Go! Go to your mother, Koh!"  
  
The Prince of Alexandria hesitated, and upon seeing his father's face, decided to leave him be. Zidane walked into a dark alley with an empty look in his eyes. Hidden deep in the shdows, away from prying eyes and ears, Zidane was released from the holding spell. He sucked in a quick breath and leaned heavily against the stone wall.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
'The little girl. You really should listen to your son.'  
  
"What do you want with me?"  
  
'Your eyes... they remind me of his. He didn't used to be like that, you know. It was just a little while, but......' The young girl's hand absentmindedly played with the phoenix pinion braided into her hair. She bit her lip to keep from crying, and continued, 'Can you ever change him back to the way he was?'  
  
Zidane swallowed. "You know I'll try."  
  
  
  
Kuja dropped to his knees, an arm draped over the metal railing at the top Terra's ruin. The pain. The pain painted everything crimson. Every time she touched his mind; it was like someone was ripping apart his skull. His heart lay in fifteen pieces in his chest. He couldn't stand it, yet he craved it. Anything to hear her laughter again. He knew she didn't do it on purpose. She never would've spoken to him at all if he hadn't begged it.  
  
"Lila? Lila, please don't leave yet!"  
  
It had been longer than she ever dared maintain contact with him. Thus, all the hurting that inflammed his entire body. She was telling him it would be all right, that she'd come home soon. Oh Alexander, how Kuja wanted to believe her! But he was not naive. He knew of death, feared it, embraced it.  
  
If only there was a way. If only he could see her smiling face one more time......  
  
Kuja slept deeply that night, forcing himself into the dreamless state with heavy drugs. He didn't want to wake up for quite some time. He was cursed and blessed with the sight of Lila, asking for stories, catching fireflies..... When would it end? His revenge. She didn't want him to avenge her death? But why? It was the only thing he knew. What was worth living without her now? Even Grammy hadn't seen him the way her bright emerald eyes did.  
  
  
  
"I..... don't understand what you're saying."  
  
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. It was I who woke Kuja's sleeping mind. I thought all would be well, he didn't seem to remember but......he wanted adventure. It seems to me he got it."  
  
Dagger stared at Shiva with a gaping mouth. She had never thought.... Why?! Why would she do such a thing? The ice queen's shoulders rose and fell gracefully, reading her summoner's mind.  
  
"I don't know. It just felt right."  
  
"Felt right? FELT RIGHT!? You brought to life the most dangerous.... Demon! that ever walked Gaia and-"  
  
"He's no demon!" Shiva's eyes flashed dangerously, and Dagger took her seat wisely. "Queen. Your husband..... went after his brother. You knew that. Kuja was changed when he knew what life and death meant. But I didn't foresee that he would...... revert..... the way he did. I ask for your forgiveness, not," She said eyeing Dagger carefully, "to receive judgement."  
  
"I see. Shiva. You have wise words. We'll do what we can."  
  
  
  
Lila floated through Terra's lifestream. It was kind of weird, she was the only soul from Gaia here. But she didn't care much, she could reach Kuja better from here. If Zidane kept to his word, which she was sure he would, then everyone would be happy, and there wouldn't be anymore hurt people. Her child's mind couldn't fully grasp the idea of death. When someone left, they had to come back eventually. That was just how it had to go.  
  
It wasn't fair otherwise.  
  
Another thing she couldn't understand was how Kuja became so........ angry. What did he have to get mad over? So many things kept her busy here. She never worried, except when Kuja got hurt talking to her. That she felt sad about. But some of the things the people here said had her wondering.... Who were they before they got stuck here?  
  
  
  
It was his moment. Time for him to shine. Terra and Gaia should have become one, long ago. Instead, the character traits of the humans sculpted them as was their will. Zidane found love and comfort while Kuja was wrapped in hate and fear. Both had so very different lives, and so changed their outcome. Kuja's eyes fluttered open. It had been a lovely little dream. He had hoped he wouldn't be dreaming, but it soothed him.  
  
What he had wanted, all his life, was a purpose for his life. He had a purpose. To join Terra and Gaia into one. To rule them all with painful love. He saw it, his future. Garland, damn him but he had dared, had told him. Lila's soul still remained intact. It was with Terra's flow of life now, wandering until Kuja could set it free. Imagine, he thought, lifting his arms in praise to the sun, she could have an eternal life.... with me, with Grammy, she could meet Radali....  
  
But forgive me, little princess. I'll have to cause just a few more nightmares.  
  
Kuja's body glowed with a deep ruby aura. He focused before him and ten creatures began to take form of the shadows. Details came into their faces and clothing, the darkness formed black wings that hid their bodies from view. When finished, the Fiends stretched their wings a little, and got into a battle stance.  
  
"Go. Waste no more of your time here!"  
  
They each gave a curt nod and flew away, back to Gaia. Kuja had sent them each to the ten cities that posed the largest threat: Alexandria, Treno, Lindblum, Madain Sari, Burmecia, Cleyra, Oeilvert, Black Mage Village, Iifa City (a common city for the new Genomes), and Ipsen Castle (a flourishing place built on tourism).  
  
"Act Two begins."  
  
  
  
Author's Note: I'm starting to confuse myself with my own plot line! Anyways, I'm juggling at home stuff, otherwise, I'd have this out to you sooner. Ironic that it was right on the edge of a cliffhanger...... Gah! I have so many endings planned out and I need to choose which one so I can lead my plotline there! That may take another day or so.... Sorry! I feel so bad! This chapter was so short! Oh yeah, one more thing.... my fiends? Think Vincent's Chaos as a baseline; otherwise, let your imagination run wild! See you in Chapter 7! 


	7. Diversion

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
The Fiends hovered above each of the cities. They were waiting for the signal. They would all attack at once. No warnings. No sympathy. Destruction, only destruction. They followed their Master's will.  
  
'Now.' Radali spoke into their minds. Each nodded, a lifeless doll, and plunged into the cities.  
  
  
  
"Now." Kuja floated in the stratosphere, calling forth Ultima to his hands. His hair lost it's silver glint, and gained the blood red hues of Trance. His tail flicked back and forth changing also to crimson. Ultima was preparing itself for it's final show. Behind him, the twin moons were forcing themselves into an eclipse. Kuja raised his hands high over his head.  
  
"Act Three."  
  
  
  
Below, the city of Alexandria was in turmoil. The black-winged incarnate of evil dropped from the clouds as a blazing comet. His wings spread just before he landed, flicking the heat from his body onto the surrounding houses and shops. People screamed again, and this time Zidane kept his son safe at home. Bearing the Ultima Weapon before him, he settled himself down into a battle stance. The creature's hands twitched with bloodlust, and he charged for the Genome.  
  
Zidane raised his sword over his head, completely oblivious to the world around him.  
  
one.....two.....three.....four.....  
  
He counted in his head, keeping time with the battle. He outlined his moves with grace and planned manuervering. training had given him a focusing point, and didn't dare lose his place in his counting.  
  
one...two...three...four...  
  
The battle picked up pace; parry, parry, dodge, cut. Zidane's dance of weaponry became a struggle for balance as the creature lunged in and weaved out of his reach constantly. Parry, parry, dodge, cut.  
  
one..two..three..four..  
  
Things were getting out of hand. The monster was following his moves with perfect timing. desperate, Zidane picked up the pace more, fearing he would stumble, but wanting to win. He and the creature were now a blur of gold and black and red. His Ultima Weapon was dancing in his hands, singing to him for blood and death, but it would not have a reprieve just yet.  
  
onetwothreefouronetwothreefouronetwothreeFOUR  
  
Caught up in the dance of survival, Zidane's footwork caught up with the Fiend's and he drove his blade hard into the body of the evil creation. Farther and farther in, the silvery blue blade shot out of the thing's midsection. Zidane's blood was boiling now, and the Fiend caught a gleam in his opponent's eyes. Slowly, very slowly, Zidane drew his now-red weapon from the creature's stomach. Blood began to spill violently, and the demon's face became a distorted mask of many emotions: Premonition, Fear, Anger, Hatred, Sorrow, why? WHY?  
  
He screeched as he clawed at his stomach, trying to ease the pain by killing himself. Rid himself of it, oh, that sick feeling. These things made no sense, he came to deal the same death he was now gaining and giving himself. The blade came out a centimeter more. He begged the king of Alexandria, begged for a death, but the Genome didn't listen.  
  
Another centimeter. Little by painstaking little. Slow torture, blood. The blade was all that was supporting the creature now. Bits of flesh and hot, sweet blood poured down to make a lake at his feet. Organs and digestive fluids littered the ground, but Zidane would pay no heed.  
  
"Just a little more now. Shh." He smiled wickedly at the monster.  
  
"Stop it! Stop it now! PLEASE!" The demon screamed and spat blood in Zidane's direction. It missed, but it was the thought that counted. Zidane suddenly tensed his muscles and jerked, a fast, fluid motion that gained him a small gasp of suprise followed by a wet thud as the monster collapsed into the river of it's own blood.  
  
Zidane was breathing heavily now. He forced himself to come down out of his Trance-hungry reverie, to save it for when they would need it. Finally, the dullness came out of his eyes and his heart went back to it's regular pulse. He turned back to gaze at the ruined homes, but at least it wouldn't take long to repair. Tired and weak, he struggled to get himself to an inn, where he collapsed gratefully.  
  
  
  
A grinning teenager with a shimmering waterfall of violet hair raised the Angel Flute to her lips and began playing a forbidding song. The dark angel shuddered and looked up. The sky was dark and lightning treatened to strike. A demon that vaguely resembled a gargoyle, like the ones that sat forever in stone in Kuja's desert palace, rode the winds and bore down upon Fiend 2. Taken by suprise, the creature squirmed under Madeen screeching and struggling to get his wings out from under him. He slashed out with his claws violently, catching the eidolon across the eye. Madeen hissed, clutching at it's wound and losing its balance.  
  
The young woman swung her flute low and hard over and over, knocking the Fiend unconcious.  
  
"What...." Eiko gasped, "...was that?"  
  
Eiko Carol bent down and prodded at it with her flute. Satisfied, she grabbed it by the shoulders and rolled it onto it's back. She leaned in for a closer look.  
  
The demon screamed and grabbed Eiko by the throat. It's arm wrapped around her slender neck thoughtfully, as if debating how to strangle her. Eiko shrieked and bit at it's hand, further angering the winged creature. It traced it's claws back and forth along the flesh of her neck, contemplating how long to let her squirm.  
  
It contemplated one moment too long. A Firaga spell hit it from behind, knocking him off balance. Eiko bit hard on her captor's arm, making the demon withdraw it's arm in pain. Then, enraged, Eiko proceded to stomp it to near-death. Vivi appeared behind her, blushing. When she was done, the young summoner threw her arms around the black mage, laughing.  
  
  
  
"And I'm here with those kids again because...?"  
  
"Amarant! It's not that bad."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Freya sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. She couldn't believe she had left Burmecia for this, but credits were due. Amarant did make things interesting. She heard the red-haired man chuckle. It was just another calm night in Treno. For now. The Dragon Knight heard a faint swooping and looked up. Above was a giant bird... no, some sort of winged creature but not a bird. It was....  
  
The building behind her erupted to flames. Amarant pushed the Burmecian to the ground with him to escape the imploding glass and flammables within. When they regained their footing, she hefted her Dragon's Hair as Amarant did his Rune Claws and charged the thing. It saw their advance and parried with it's huge claws. They both pushed it back, attempting to overpower it, but with a burst of the dark wings, they were suddenly on the floor again. This was something neither of the two cared to tango with, and opted for a quick battle. Amarant felt himself pushing farther and farther toward his limits. Freya launched herself into the air.  
  
The next onslaught was quick and concise. As a diversion of attention as well as an attack, Freya dropped from the sky spear first. The Fiend dodged enough that the brnt of the attack went to his shoulder, but the spearhead was well-embedded in the flesh. Amarant charged with a Demi Shock blow to the gut, and succeeded. The demon was thrown into the bilding.  
  
"Let's have an old-fashioned barbecue!"  
  
"I love it when you're devious, Freya."  
  
Amarant fetched some of the airship's supply of gasoline (since Mist no longer could power them) and tossed it into the auction house. It flared up brightly before shortly reducing the building to ashes.  
  
"Now I see why they call you the Flaming Amarant."  
  
  
  
The rest of the cities that were to be bombarded still held up, however badly burnt. Mikoto was adept at sensing things like this, and had warned the others in time to destroy the Fiends. Kuja didn't care. It was only a diversion. Now was the time for Terra to come to the surface. The cursed souls of the other world below Gaia would come forth and take their bodies among the experimental Genomes. And Lila with them. He was doing exactly what he would've done, this was his Fate, his destiny.  
  
"It begins."  
  
Ulitma fell to Gaia in fuschia comets. Instead of destroying the planet, it covered it in a thick layer of power. It seeped into the soil and water, down through to the forgotten world. Gaia began to tremble. The planet was splitting into pieces. Soon, it would all sink.  
  
'Clever boy.'  
  
"What?" Kuja looked around, but no one was with him in the air. He heard a chuckle within his mind, "Garland?"  
  
'Thank you. For carrying out my plans. It seems my dog has bitten me, but not turned away.'  
  
Kuja floated, stupefied. What was he talking about?  
  
A pair of thin, frail arms clasped him from the side. A child's laughter. Concerned green eyes.  
  
"Kuja!"  
  
  
  
Author's Note: I do so love cliffhangers! SORRY SORRY SORRY! I promised myself I wouldn't let my story drift to the second page..... and it did. The long awaited Chapter 7 is finally here though! I hope you had as much enjoyment reading it as I had in writing it. Please review if you haven't already! 


	8. Reversed

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Squaresoft does. If I did own it, I would be filthy rich and wouldn't need to be writing these stories....  
  
  
  
  
  
"Kuja!"  
  
Kuja looked down at the little girl, her arms wrapped around his waist. Shock and Disbelief warred in his eyes. He found himself stuttering, no words being able to form in his mouth. Lila looked up at him, confused. They both just stared at each other for a moment or two, before Lila broke the silence with her silvery laughter.  
  
"How?"  
  
"....Zidane. And Shiva. They helped me."  
  
"Shiva?"  
  
"Didn't you know? She brought you back to life. Shiva was disguised as Grammy!"  
  
Again, Kuja was confused. How could she be here? Grammy was an eidolon? His brother...... His brother had helped her? Subconciously, one hand drifted down to her hair, and he caressed it. She was real. But before he could ponder these things more closely, the planet below shuddered, and he saw red light pouring through the crevasses. Lila looked at him, her smile gone.  
  
"Please stop Kuja! You're hurting people! Kuja, please!"  
  
He nodded, and told her to stay in the atmosphere. Kuja allowed himself to focus, and plunged back down toward the earth. He reached out with all of his power, forcing the Ultima to return.  
  
Garland felt the approach of power. Power that would set him free. Power that would create a new civilization, one above life or death. He opened his arms wide to the violet comets streaking towards him. And met nothing. The Power he had been craving swept in an arc and raced back towards the surface.  
  
Kuja shivered. This wouldn't work. Would he live long enough? His body felt as though it were on fire as the energy swept itself back into him. His heart leaped in his chest, and he twitched from the shock. He felt his concentration slip as the energy coursed through his veins and absorbed back into his reserves. For a long moment he faltered, his mind scorched. He plummeted faster now, and he feared he would not be able to pull up. He closed his eyes and prayed Zidane and the others could do the rest.  
  
Seconds before he hit the the ground, there was a screech off to his right. Beneath him he felt warm feathers instead of rock. He opened his eyes, relieved, to see one jet black eye rolled back to look at him with concern.  
  
"Thank you, Radali."  
  
'Master, I'd forgotten what a hassle you used to be.'  
  
Kuja raised his hands, a current of energy flowing between them. The let it flow, over and around the entire planet of Gaia, forcing the broken pieces together again. Lila could not live on Terra. She needed flowers and meadows, not crimson streams and power-thirsty souls. He had her back, and that was all he had needed of doing this. To release her soul.  
  
His body ached from the previous spell intake. Kuja felt his focus blurring again. He didn't have enough power to heal it. Still, he held it together, praying for a miracle, someone who knew how to heal a planet. His energy was reaching the bottom of his reserves. Just a moment longer, please! he begged himself.  
  
Suddenly, a wave of green light washed over him, soothing and gentle. It washed across the whole planet, "sewing" the pieces back together. Startled, he looked up and saw Lila, concentrating on a little emerald sphere in her hands. He smiled, and released the pieces of Gaia. He leaned back and closed his eyes. Finally, he could rest.  
  
Kuja spoke too soon. Radali howled in pain and shuddered beneath him. A Thundaga spell had hit him from below. The pieces of Gaia were beginning to shift apart again. He dared to look back at Lila, whose face showed signs of a struggle. Below him, he saw Garland. Or what was once Garland. He had used the power of Necron to shift his soul and body into a beast of enormous proportions. Kuja's eyes went wide as he saw the monster lift his hand, or what passed for one, and throw another Thundaga at them. Radali wheeled out of the way, but he was also losing altitude. The dragon half pulled up and half crashed onto the field just below Alexandria.  
  
The monster that was Garland charged for him, and he felt himself fly without the aid of Radali. He crashed into the cliff face and landed in the lake. He didn't have the strength to swim to the surface, but it turned out he didn't have to. Garland lifted him out and slammed him repeatedly against the ground. He felt his ribs crack from the force, and he spat out blood. He lay there, cringing, waiting for the next blow. Then, he felt another soothing wave pass over him. His wounds quickly closed, and his ribs reknitted themselves. Kuja forced himself up, and went at the creature with only his hands for weapons.  
  
Lila was next to him, farther back, ready to throw whatever spells she could from long range. Immediately, Garland found himself at the mercy of Kuja. The Genome cupped a Firaga in his hand, and hit the demon with an open palm to the chin, followed by a kick to the stomach. He couldn't fight long without a weapon, but he was determined to make the most of it. While Lila bombarded the zombie with cure spells, Kuja reached out with his mind, calling for his brother.  
  
  
  
Zidane paced up and down the length of the room. Since the tremors started, there was fear and complaints all over the kingdom. He missed a step as it shook again, and stumbled to the floor. He had had about all he could take from this. What was going on? He got up with an annoyed expression on his face, and his own son laughing at him.  
  
"Koh, that wasn't that funny."  
  
'Zidane!'  
  
"Did you say something?"  
  
"No...... You didn't hit your head did you?"  
  
'Zidane! Brother!'  
  
"Kuja?"  
  
'Come to the bottom of the cliff face, NOW!'  
  
".....Yeah, okay..."  
  
"Dad? Maybe you should go see a doctor?"  
  
  
  
Kuja mentally slapped himself after contact with his brother. He doubted Zidane would show up, he didn't even trust Kuja anymore. This was their only chance to get help before they wound up in the great beyond. Behind him, he heard shouts. While Garland was distracted, Kuja powered up with Ultima and lashed out with his fist. In the back lines, Lila called down an ice monolith onto the demon.  
  
"Where'd you-"  
  
"Shiva taught me."  
  
"Kuja!"  
  
Kuja turned around slightly, not letting his guard down. Garland charged at the same time Zidane threw the Orichalon to Kuja. The gigantic monster suddenly bit off more than he could chew, and got steel across the jaw as a reward. He shrieked and charged all of them, throwing them back. Zidane leapt in, cutting with his double-bladed weapon. He came back with blood on sword. It was another dance in battle. Garland threw spells contering Lila's and threw attacks knocking them all off their feet.  
  
Zidaen lay gasping for breath on the ground. Both sides were putting up a good fight, but with Garland's now enhanced abilities, they were being pushed back. Kuja was next to him, struggling to maintain a Cure spell, and failing. Lila was crying behind them. Garland focused for a moment, then chraged with all his might, screaming as the banshees would.  
  
"Diamond Dust!"  
  
Garland stumbled back, the ice surrounding him. The pressure from the impact as it broke tossed Garland aside like a rag doll. He fell and lay still. Shiva drifted down slowly next to them, healing her "comrades". Lila laughed and hugged her. It was all done, the damage to Gaia had been reversed. All was as it should be.  
  
Then the ground pitched violently under them. The planet began to crack all over again, everything was focusing around Garland's body. Necron's voice spoke in Kuja's mind.  
  
'Garland sacrificed for Terra, it will take a sacrifice for Gaia to reverse it.'  
  
Kuja stared up at Alexandria. The previous tremors had done damage enough that anything more would cause the cliff to collapse. His nephew was there. He ran to Lila and knelt down beside her. He lightly pressed his lips against hers.  
  
"No girl ever forgets her first kiss."  
  
Then he ran to the center of the field, and drove the Orichalon through his stomach. For Gaia.  
  
The trembling stopped. Kuja slumped to the ground and lay still.  
  
Lila cried. Shiva looked away. Zidane screamed.  
  
"You've taken my brother twice!"  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Personally, I think this chapter sucked. I'll probably end up redoing it. So, it's all over now. Or is it? Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on my devious mind. 


	9. Chaos

Disclaimer: I don't own FF9. Squaresoft does. Repeat.  
  
  
  
In the middle of a forgotten field, a man lay dreaming. The night cast shadows on the cliff face above him. One of them stepped forward revealing a small humanoid shape, shrouded in a cloak black as the sky above. He darted across the fields, stopping before the silver-haired man resting not-so-peacefully on a narrow fault in the ground. His head rested against the Genome's chest, listening to the shallow breathing coming in short, ragged rasps. Satisfied, he took something from the fold of his cloak. The stranger intertwined the item in the other's fingers and vanished as quickly as he had come.  
  
Kuja began to breathe again.  
  
The item in his palm was glowing a steady blue. The stranger, now at the tip of the cliff, looked back once and then headed into Alexandria. The streets and alleys of this great city were more or less deserted, but no one took notice to the small, cloaked figure. He turned quickly into a network of alleys, turning this way and that, and finally paused just outside of a secret entrance to Alexandria Castle. The figure sighed and pulled back the hood of the cloak. The dark brown tip of a tail poked out from beneath the cloak's hem.  
  
Koh looked up at the sky. 'Please be all right, Uncle Kuja.'  
  
With that prayer on it's way to the stars, the young prince entered the palace and snuck back to his room, quickly.  
  
When Kuja woke, he found a small blue mirror in his hands. He drifted suddenly from sub-concious stupor to knowledge of the past days, and his hand drifted to his stomach, where a scar was to remind him. Getting up, though he should be dead, he pocketed the mirror and headed for Alexandria. The passage was dark and damp, but bearable. The jagged rocks of it were perilous and forced the Genome into a crouch most of the way. When he was rewarded with the tunnel's end, he stepped into daylight and the sight of Alexandria. The way it should be.  
  
As he went through the city to the palace's gates, citizens of this gigantic city stared in wonder at him. He ignored them for the time being, but Kuja couldn't help but sympathize with them. For all they knew, and himself included, he should be dead. The Genome vaguely wondered if his brother had told them the story. At first, he thought not, but his opinion was drastically changed when, of all people, a fiery-haired member of Tantalus greeted him.  
  
"Kuja!"  
  
"..Blank?"  
  
The reason for his hesitation was simple. Blank had suddenly swept the silver-haired man up in a tight bortherly embrace.  
  
"Hey, don't ya get it man?"  
  
No response.  
  
"You saved the world! You're a hero now!"  
  
"A hero?" Kuja had hardly been called a hero before this.  
  
"Yeah," Blank continued, then sobered. "We kinda all thought you were dead."  
  
Kuja was notified that it had been two days since the battle with Garland's fierce incarnation, and that the majority of the people in Gaia had greived his death. The Genome wasn't terribly used to being thought of as a hero, and all the attention he was getting made him shy and introvertive. Two other traits that were new to him. Blank reassured him that he'd get used to it. When they reached the palace gates, they were immediately let in without question. Up at the top floor, his nephew, Koh, peered out from his window.  
  
"Mom! Dad! It's Uncle Kuja!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
Kuja could hear his brother's loud reply. Eventually, he got to see Zidane, decked out in the royal wardrobe, with a heavy crown settled on his still unruly hair. Something else troubled him by his brother's appearance, there were bold tear-streaks running down his face. Queen Garnet, ever as lovely, behind him held a handkercheif, and was twisting it nervously in her fingers. Koh was the only one who seemed unfazed, with his father's trademark grin on his young face.  
  
"Kuja!" he heard to his right as he struggled to find something to say to his brother.  
  
"Lila!"  
  
The little girl ran into Kuja's arms and held him tightly, sobbing and smiling the way only little girls can. The Genome stroked her hair as she told him how much she had missed him and how much had changed though it had only been two days. He was as proud of her as a father, and indeed she was the daughter of his soul. She was dressed pristinely in a pink gown, her hair done up in curls. She quickly relayed to him the events of the past couple days, telling him that she had stayed here because Koh told her he'd come back.  
  
Koh.  
  
The little boy grinned even wider, if possible, but his eyes held a mysteriousness that not even Kuja could read. Zidane and his family had come down the stairs, and were standing paitiently beside him. Lila and Koh stood next to each other smiling as if this were all some kind of joke on their part. Kuja stood and turned towards his brother. They clasped hands, then pulled together in a brief embrace. Next, unexpectedly, Garnet held him and sobbed and thanked him repeatedly, making Kuja blush with embarassment and pride.  
  
"How? How did you... live?" she asked.  
  
Kuja threw up his hands in confusion, "I'm not sure. I thought for sure I was..." he eyed Lila's reaction carefully and thought better of finishing the sentence.  
  
The Royal Family and a new found hero and his soul-daughter spent the rest of the day discussing the events and effects after and of the battle.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, outside, a figure was lounging unseen on the roof of Alexandria's Palace. The creature was sleek, with the body and head of a panther, but with three tails that didn't look like a cats, but a wolf's. It was a little larger than a regular panther, and when the sun shone on it, it's fur was a deep deep red. It's ears were pointed, like a housecat's, and one was pierced with a gold hoop earring. An onyx was set in gold and rested on it's forehead. It's coal-black eyes were piercing and cold.  
  
This was the Nightmare eidolon, Chaos.  
  
One of the tails flicked boredly in typical cat fashion. He flexed his black claws on the roof tiles while listening to the converstaion in the room below him. This eidolon had been without a master for many many long years. Having been considered dangerous, he had been trapped between Gaia and Terra for centuries on end. The faults that had condemned Garland had freed Chaos.  
  
Now the world would see why he had been given this namesake.  
  
He padded quietly to the edge of the roof and leaped onto the balcony. He waited for an oppurtune moment, a pause in the conversation, and leaped through the glass.  
  
  
  
A giant, lionlike creature burst through the window and stood in battle stance not far from Koh. The little prince had never seen anything like it, and wasn't sure he wanted to when it's black stare rested on him. He quickly scooted away from the thing, gripping onto his mother's waist, while Kuja and Zidane broke their weapons out of their sheaths and faced the beast. At first, the battle was purely physical, another dance as his father had tried to explain battle to him. The creature moved with the grace that only cats could have, and more than once clawed it's opponents. When it finally seemed like one blow would finish it, the thing stopped, sat, and concentrated.  
  
Suddenly, the room filled with a black mist. Koh cried out when he was separated from his mother. The creature spoke into his mind, 'You may not want to look, child.' in a voice that was unmistakably male. The young prince squeezed his eyes shut but heard the sounds of war and torment all around him. There were shrieks of pain, glory, and fear. There was a battle taking place near him, but didn't want to risk a glance to see if it was really his father and uncle. Koh cried out again, and felt Lila's reassuring hand rest on his arm.  
  
  
  
Kuja was surrounded by the stuff. It was impossible to see anymore, and he backed up with uncertainty. Around him, the mist began to take shape, he could see the faces of all the people he had killed. A deep voice spoke into his mind, 'Murderer.' Kuja shuddered and tried to close his eyes, but found he could not look away.  
  
'Murderer. You killed your own creator. You would have killed your own brother,'  
  
"I'm not like that anymore!"  
  
'You'll kill the only family you ever had. And when it's all done, you'll kill the little girl, too.'  
  
"No!"  
  
'Murderer. Murderer.'  
  
"Stop! What sorcery is this?" Kuja heard his brother cry out.  
  
"Zidane!" Kuja called, but as his thoughts shifted to his brother, so the scene in front of him did.  
  
Zidane, the fallen King of Alexandria, lying helplessly in a little pool of blood. The Genome shouted his denial, and slashed at the vision with his dagger. The mist swirled around his blade, forming a new picture, one which Kuja closed his eyes tightly and guarded against.  
  
He would never hurt Lila.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: I wasn't quite planning on continuing this, so, the beginning is a bit sketchy. Wow! 22 reviews! I'm so proud! Thanks for all your support, and I look forward to reading your story Dragon-Sama. I was going to show the nightmares of all the characters, but couldn't quite think of any. They'll most likely be in the next chapter, for those of you curious. Please Review if you haven't already! 


	10. Doom?

Disclaimer: I don't own FF9. Squaresoft does. Repeat.  
  
  
  
When the cold feeling of sleep faded, Kuja was alone in the room. He dared to open his perfect sky-blue eyes to survey the room. Not a single thing was out of place aside from the royal family's absence. Not a single breeze stirred the red curtains. It seemed like time had stopped dead in it's tracks, and nothing moved except for Kuja wildly racing heart. In an otherwise deathly silent room, something rustled behind him. He turned and saw the blood-red beast staring back at him, tails flicking with amusement.  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
The strange looking thing spoke directly into his mind, 'Elsewhere.'  
  
Before Kuja could demand the others' whereabouts, the scenery changed into that of a garden, brimming with roses. There was a gray cobblestone path ahead of him, leading away from the river surrounding Alexandria Castle and further into the beautiful blossoms. Ahead, at the end of the path, was a type of whirlwind where the petals of the flowers spun dizzily, locked in a passionate embrace with the gale.  
  
As the silver-haired man approached it, the flower storm died away, revealing the netrance to an underground tomb. The names etched on the granite made his heart coil up with mixed feelings of anger and perpetual sadness. "What mockery is this?" he shouted to the clouds who were too absorbed in their lazy drifting to answer him.  
  
'This is a shadow of what's to come. From your heart. From theirs.'  
  
The creature made a dramatic appearance, materializing itself from the new spin of petals. It stood, light on it's feet, awaiting his reaction. Kuja hadn't even turned around. When it realized that it wasn't going to get the desired effect, Chaos continued, 'Allow me to show you my realm, hmm?' And, indeed the scene changed again. Drastically.  
  
What had replaced the comforting vision of roses was scorched land ridden by monsters and humans between which there was no psycological difference. Instead of the sweet smell of spring's blooms, there was the odor of rotting flesh, dried blood. What had been a vision of serenity despite the tomb was now turned into a surreal world of utter chaos. The giant cat turned and gazed over his own handiwork, an appreciative gleam in his eyes.  
  
'This is what will become of Gaia. It is my right. My revenge.' he shifted so that one jet black eye stared back at him, 'Do you understand?'  
  
"What does this have to do with me? With the others?"  
  
'They are the descendants of those who captured me, and those who banished me. You are different. You have touched both sides of your soul, and you can help me.'  
  
"Can. But won't."  
  
Chaos chuckled and the sound reverberated within Kuja's mind. 'We shall see.'  
  
"Kuja?"  
  
Kuja turned his head from the eidolon, looking up at the threatening storm clouds.  
  
"Kuja!"  
  
  
  
Zidane was shaking Kuja so hard he thought his head would fall off. He swatted, annoyed, at his brother who took the hint immediately. When his disorientation faded, the older Genome looked at them, bewilderment etched into the fair lines of his face. "You're all here?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Where'd you think we were?"  
  
"It's not important, brother. Where's the-"  
  
"Eidolon?" Garnet cut him off. Everyone stared at her for a moment.  
  
"You're telling me that cat....... was an eidolon?" At his wife's nod, Zidane continued, "It's gonna be a long night."  
  
  
  
Back at Madain Sari, two familiar faces were watching the stars peek through the dying oranges and reds and purples of the sunset. Eiko stretched her legs in contentment as she recounted how long ago she and the others had left this place to stop Kuja. Now she had outgrown the gangliness of her youth and fitted into her features. Rumors of her beauty had spread far in Lindblum. She wondered how her "parents" were doing. Next to her, Vivi was silent, watching his children play below them.  
  
The grass rustled under her as she moved uncomfortably. Suddenly confusion and unease contorted her pale face. Vivi seemed to sense her discomfort, for the black mage turned to her.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"The powers of the eidolons are shifting..."  
  
"Shifting?"  
  
"I can't hear them so well anymore."  
  
They lay staring at the moons for a few moments more, as if the answer to their unspoken questions would just appear out of the air. Eiko bit her lip and tried to make out what the eidolons were telling her, but it was no use. She turned worried eyes to Vivi, who studied her with his glowing amber ones.  
  
"Vivi, I'm scared."  
  
  
  
Chaos was impressed enough with the foolish nobles' reactions that he left them all with a feeling of doom. In the future, he would make the planet to fit his namesake. It would take much careful planning, but he had all the time in the world.  
  
In the throes of the past was a memory not recorded in the history books. The human race had hunted for and eventually captured the eidolon for all his mischief that he caused, literally scaring people to death with his impending nightmares. Those of the summoners that had heard of him across the ocean and risked their lives to travel to the Mist continent to stop him sealed him away between the two worlds that consumed each other to form Gaia. Unfortunately for them, eidolons do not die.  
  
He had spent hundreds of years plotting revenge in time that he could have spent reforming. But just the thought of doing something expected of him was enough to turn his mind from recounting the many "evils" he had done the world. Anger had swelled in him most then. Now he was alone while he plotted his next move with finesse. It would have to be something big. After awhile, a big cat-grin spread across the eidolon's face.  
  
  
  
"Your majesties, the city is burning!"  
  
Kuja's head snapped up at that response. "A fire?" Zidane voiced his brother's thoughts. The others had had their weapons cradled in their hands since the eidolon left, and it seemed now would be a chance to use them. The two Genomes were the first out the door, Freya and Amarant (who were called away from the city's pub earlier) right behind them. Garnet stayed behind to watch the children, who were plastered to the window watching the flames leap from building to building.  
  
Soon the four were in the street. The glint of their weapons and the reflection of the fire in their eyes made them seem like war embodied to any passersby. Freya's spear was the first to strike, the speed in which she slashed it lifting a gust strong enough to put out the fire from a few select rooftops. She launched herself into the air, following more roofs forward into the rising smoke. Amarant followed her shortly after, his Rune claws looking as formidable as ever.  
  
The two brothers stayed on the ground, eyes scanning shadows and torrents of flame for any sign of the red cat. In the middle of the square they found the eidolon, sitting calmly atop the statue while frightened towspeople fled from their burning homes.  
  
Zidane made the first move, running forth with the Ultima Weapon positioned behind his back and his free hand outstretched for balance. He ducked under the long claws of Chaos and swiped upward blindly. He felt is blade bite into stone instead of flesh and the blonde man was suddenly wrapped in a bubble of suffocating smoke. The Genome had the sensation of being swept of his feet before he crashed into the unforgiving concrete.  
  
Kuja made the next run. His borrowed Orichalon gleamed a dull green as he ran forward toward the enemy. Even as he lashed out, he sent a Flare spell barreling into the eidolon's side. Chaos let out a howl of suprise and leapt high into the air, his claws extending to an even longer length. The Genome braced himself and shut his eyes before hearing a shriek that wasn't his own. Looking up, a vague smile crossed his lips.  
  
"Radali!"  
  
Radali had rammed the eidolon full force when he had dared leap too high. The cat landed with grace but still looked relatively pissed off. When Chaos charged, Kuja was ready, and knocked it off it's feet with a Blizzaga. He followed up with an uppercut to the thing's jawline, and swept out with his foot while the eidolon was back on his hind legs from the previous cut. Chaos growled and diminished the flames. He settled himself down into a crouch and disappeared. Zidane shook his head nearby as if to clear the smoke from his eyes. Kuja sighed in relief, expecting it to be over.  
  
Zidane shouted his denial, maybe too loudly, when Chaos leapt from out of nowhere onto his back and tore at the man's collar, trying to get a piece of neck. uja went to provide assistence when he himself was swept with a powerful gale and landed on top of Amarant, still on the roof and blind from the smoke. Freya jumped down and her spear embedded itself into the beast's back. He jerked and then vanished again.  
  
The group was surrounded by an endless field of black, of nothingness. Aleaxandria was nowhere to be found. It wasn't like the vast reaches of space, which was Zidane's first thought, as it had a uniform "up" and "down" and they were walking on solid ground, though it did feel as though they'd plunge into a pit at any step. It seemed they'd be stuck wandering for awhile. In a tower in Alexandria's palace, Garnet was left alone, guarding the children when she saw that she could no longer see her husband down below.  
  
In Madain Sari, Eiko and Vivi were nowhere to be found. Instead, they were also wandering in the void, joined with Steiner and Beatrix who were each previously roaming the palace's halls.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Major-Major-Major writer's block here, and I bet it shows. Hopefully I'll be more comfortable in the next chapter and maybe KNOW where this is going. Sorry! *ahem* Where have the FF9 crew been transported? Will our heroes be able to defeat this new threat to Gaia? What the hell is going on? Please review! 


	11. The Void

Author's Note: This is an big apology from me.......  
  
  
  
The reason I've lacked in updates was because of vacation, and then moving, and then settling down into a new school and region. Those of you who have been faithfully watching for new chapters, well..... I'm proud to have such loyal admirers of my work!  
  
  
  
Now it's time. The Show MUST GO ON. Thank you so much for your cooperation.  
  
- lil genius  
  
  
  
Kuja's booted feet made a muffled clacking up and down this lightless void. It wasn't as though everything was dark. He could see, himself at the least, as he could in the middle of a field in broad daylight. It was more as though evrything was black. It strectched out miles around him, but felt as compact as a narrow hallway. It was an odd place without reasoning, for it even felt as though he was walking on air instead of a floor. His steps were slow and careful, lest a pit show itself before him. So far, he was on his own.  
  
The Genome stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued walking without landmarks or any change in the intensity of the blackness to tell of time's passing. Ahead of him was a dull glow of gray, which was his target. No matter how long he thought he was walking, the light never moved, never got closer or larger to prove he was moving at all. His tail flicked back and forth in an impaitient manner. How much longer was this going to last?  
  
  
  
"Yooooooohooooooooooo???" There was silence after this outburst, then a scuffing sound. "Aw, man..... Now I'm stuck with you." Amarant rolled his eyes, though no one could see him do so underneath his mass of red hair. Zidane was obviously upset, stomping on the "floor" of wherever it was that they were.  
  
"That's not the way a king should behave." he snickered, then added as an afterthought, "Your majesty." The blonde man ceased what he was doing and refrained from pouting. He suddenly stalked off in a random direction, leaving Amarant no chocie but to follow. 'And I thought Eiko was bad.....'  
  
Every so often they would stop, call out for others, and then continue on their walk, but it was as uneventful as the day after the defeat of Necron. It wasn't until Amarant had announced that they'd been walking 1,738 seconds that someone literally popped out at them. Zidane found himself staring at a very sharp object, very quickly. Nevrtheless, he smiled. "I knew I smelled a rat! Freya!" The spear, as it was, didn't go down, but was still held there threateningly.  
  
"I resent that, monkey-boy." Freya finally put the weapon away, and looked at the two of them. "Where's Kuja?" The pause after that question was more than enough answer for her. She sighed and followed the two men as they once again began walking.  
  
  
  
Kuja had finally figured out why the light hadn't gotten closer. He stood staring at a small silver-colored orb, that hung suspended in the air. Curiousity having gotten the better of him, he prodded it once or twice, then leaped back as the thing flared to life. The orb danced in the air and pulsed steadily, then it filled his field of vision with a blinding light. The blackness melted away and formed a ring of blue, and a shining gem in the middle of it. The Genome watched, quite perplexed as it showed him in Trance, diving through the ring and shattering the crystal. Over and over and over again.  
  
"See? This is how you woke me." a soft padding came forth from an unknown direction behind Kuja, who whirled around to face it. The silky blood-red fur gleamed in the light of the faux-crystal. "Well, not just you but your friends as well. Garland would have been proud, I'm sure." The eidolon laughed. "Isn't irony wonderful?"  
  
Kuja had slipped the Orichalon out of it's sheath, but held it limply at his side. The eidolon sat down and watched the replay of Gaia's final moments before it's rebirth. Kuja was as confused as he had ever been, in wondering why this creature was here, and in wondering when he would be allowed to live without his past. "All I've been struggling to do is fulfill my namesake. Why could I have been created if not to unleash my powers? It makes no sense. Therefore, I am thinking you are wrong to fault me."  
  
"An accident, perhaps." Kuja muttered. The creature did not seem to hear him. A low growling came from behind him and he spun once more to meet it. A wolf, hideously deformed, stood on his hind legs and swiped at the man. He rolled out of the way and dug his knife into it's back. It howled, twitched, and was still.  
  
"Seventy thousand years from now the sun will grow and almost engulf Gaia inside it. That wolf would've been normal, had I had the chance to stop the radiation. However, two months from now, you and your friends will hunt me down and destroy me. Thus ensuring the death of future generations." Kuja's frown went to a snarl, but he had no words to respond with. Mutilated creatures with no eyes and horrid sunburns leapt forward on the man who would cause them their pain for killing "Master Chaos". Kuja shouted his surprise and fought like a madman to free himself.  
  
  
  
"Freya?" Zidane had tried to gain the rat-woman's attention numerous times and she was still not paying a single bit of attention. Her ears were twitching, and were perked up, and her tail was swishing back and forth. Suddenly her spear shot forward and a strangled cry emitted from it's end. A corpse dropped forward, vaguely reminding the group of a rabbit.... with serious skin sores and cracked skin.  
  
"Ugh, what IS that thing?" Amarant poked it, then turned it over with his claws, much to his companions' disgust. It quickly turned to a type of charred dust, not quite ash. As the former guard wiped his hands on his shirt, another such creture landed on him from above. The three were equally wrestling with damned animals of this queer plane and time.  
  
Freya rolled her opponent onto Zidane's waiting blade, and dragged a cancerous fish-man off of a flailing bounty hunter. The King of Alexandria was hooting with exitement and using his speed and power to fell many of the beasts. "Today is a GOOD day!"  
  
  
  
Garnet was swamped with paperwork over the insurance and damage of the town, as well as with worry over her missing husband and friends. Shiva hovered near her with concern, having offered to help, but finding her summoner unwilling to burden her servant. 'Such a hard worker..... She'll be hurting in the morning.' The eidolon sighed and went back to watching the children, playing on the floor. Koh was not in the least bit owrried over the disappearence of his father, and had managed to console Lila into a state of calm as well. It was a curious thing indeed, but the ice queen was not about to ask questions when she prefered this over crying and fussing.  
  
Outside, Blank and Marcus were helping rebuild houses and such, and causing such a racket that the Queen's headache had skyrocketed into a migraine. She let the feather quill drop to the ground and left her study to change and help with the work. Her Prime Minister was paid to help with royal affairs anyways.  
  
"Your Majesty! Queen Garnet, help!" She was stopped just outside the door to her chambers. She asked the man what the problem was, and he continued. "Burmecia is attacking! It's war!"  
  
Sure enough, as she stole another glance out the windows, smoke was rising on the horizon, and a cold lump of fear leaped into Garnet's throat. "Why?!"  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Short, mayhaps, but I'll be more adamant about updating this story for you all! Please review, unless you want to make Lila cry..... 


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